Overcasting attachment for sewing machines



Jan. 29, 1957 Filed Nov. 6, 1953 c. G. BAEHR 2,779,300

OVERCASTING ATTACHMENT FOR SEWING MACHINES 2 she'tsvsheet l I N VENTOR 44 Jam m g ATTURN E Y5 Jan. 29, 1957 C, BAEHR I 2,779,300

OVERCASTING ATTACHMENT FOR SEWING MACHINES Filed Nov. 6, 1955 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENT'OR;

ATTORNEYS Unite OVERCASTHNG ATTACHMENT FOR SEWING MACHINES Carl G. Baehr, West Haven, Comm, assignor to The Greist Manufacturing Company, New Haven, Conn, a corporation of Connecticut Application November 6, 1953, Serial No. 390,437

4 Claims. (Cl. 112-460) This invention relates to sewing machine attachments and more particularly to an attachment to produce overcasting work or stitches over the edge of a piece of material. As illustrated, the attachment is particularly adapted to be employed in connection with the usual household sewing machine. r

In the overcasting attachment illustrated in the drawings, there is provided a frame adapted to be secured to' cloth and turn its edge upwardly so that as the cloth is.

moved laterally by the presser foot, the needle will make a stitch first on one side of theupturned edge and then on the other side. These stitches do not necessarily alternate and, as will be described hereinafter, provision may be made for overcasting in any of a number of desired patterns.

The scroll member, as stated, is shaped to receive and turn one edge of the cloth upwardly and is also provided with a rearwardly extending guide member to lie adjacent the upturned edge of the material and support it in vertical position, this guide member being so disposed that the needle will descend on opposite sides thereof depending upon the position of the presser foot.

It is sometimes desirable to vary the width of the stitch and to this end the scroll member is readily detachable so that it may be replaced by another of greater dimensions so that an edge portion of greater or lesser width, as desired, may be turned upwardly in a vertical plane. As illustrated, the scroll member is merely held in place by friction, and it, therefore, may be readily disconnected and replaced by another.

One object of the present invention is to provide a new and improved overcasting attachment for sewing machines.

A further object of the invention is to provide a new and improved overcasing attachment which may be read-ily and easily secured to the usual household sewing machine.

Still another object of the invention is to provide an overcasting attachment for a sewing machine of the character described, the attachment being provided with a presser foot, and-a scroll member disposed forwardly of the presser foot to receive and guide an edge portion of the material to a vertical plane so that stitches may be made upon opposite sides of this upwardly turned edge portion of the material as the latter progressesthrough the machine. I

i still further object of the invention is the provision of an overcasting attachment of the characterdescribed States Patent r Patented Jan. 29, 1957 in which the scrollmember is detachably secured to the presser foot so that it may be readily replaced by another of different dimensions.

To these 'andother ends the invention consists in the novel features and conbinations of parts to be hereinafter described and claimed.

In the accompanying drawings:

Fig. l is a side elevational view of an overcasting attachment for sewing machines embodying my invention, some parts being shown in section;

Fig. 2 is an elevational view of the forward portion of the attachment from the side opposite that shown in Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a top plan view of the presser foot and scroll member of the attachment;

Fig. 4 is a bottom plan view of the parts shown in Fig. 3;

Fig. 5 is an elevational view of the scroll when detached from the attachment;

Fig. 6 is a front elevational view of the scroll member.

Fig. 7 is a sectional view on line 7--7 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 8 is a sectional view partly diagrammatic on line 8-8 of Fig. 3;

Fig. 9 is a view similar to Fig. 5, showing the upturned edge of the material in dotted lines; and

Fig. lOis a view of a piece of material as stitched by the attachment showing both sides thereof.

To illustrate a preferred embodiment of the invention, there is 'shown in the drawings a frame member 10 of U-shaped form having a base portion 11 which extends rearwardly from the spaced upstanding members of the frame. Pivoted at 12 to the base 11 of the frame is a lever 13 and a guide pin 14 is secured to the base 11 and operates in a slot 15 in the lever to guide the latter in its movements, this pin having a head 16 whereby the lever lies between this head and'the base member 11.

Secured to the lever 13 is an upstanding pin 17, this pin having slidably mounted thereon a cam follower 18 of frusto-conical shape, this follower being urged upward- 1y by the spring 19 into engagement with the cam track 20 of the usual cam wheel 21 rotatably mounted on a 'As will be understood, varying the arrangement of the,

tated in a step-bystep manner.

shaft (not shown) supported by the spaced standards of the frame 10. A fork arm 22 is pivoted coincidentally with the axis of the cam wheel, and upon this fork arm is pivoted at 23a pawl member24 designed to engage the teeth of a ratchet wheel 25.

The ratchet wheel 25 is secured upon the shaft which carries the cam wheel 21 in the usual manner, and as will be obvious upon reciprocation of the fork arm the ratchet wheel 25 together with the cam wheel 21 is ro- The pawl 24 is urged downwardly into engagement with the ratchet wheel 25 by the usual spring 26, and it will be understood that the construction is such that the pawl may be raised out of engagement with the ratchet wheel if it is desired to do plain sewing, and held in such inoperative position by the spring 26.

I Secured between the upstanding members of the frame It) is the usual adapter 27 to enable the attachment to be secured to the presser bar of a household sewing machine. As is usual, the fork arm 22 is provided with a bifurcated end 28 adapted to engage the needle-clamping screw'upon the needle bar. In order to vary the pattern of the overcasting stitch a masking wheel or cam29 is provided, this member overlying the ratchet 25. This masking cam contains deep and shallow notches 30 and 31, the deep notches permitting the pawl 24 to engage the teeth of the ratchet wheel 25 while when the pawl engages the shallow notch 30, it will rotate the masking cam but will not engage nor rotate the ratchet wheel 25.

awasoo deep and shallow notches on the masking wheel will vary the stitch pattern effected by the attachment.

The forward end of the lever 13 is offset downwardly to provide a presser foot having a horizontal portion 32 provided with a roughened lower surface 33 to engage the material and shift it laterally when the lever 13 is shifted. This presser foot is also provided at one edge with an upstanding or vertically disposed wall portion 34. At its other edge a needle opening or recess 35 is provided. As will be seen from Fig. 3, the edge of the presser foot in which the needle opening is provided is inclined or at an angle to the longitudinal axis of the frame and the lever 13 so that the edge of the material will be guided in a somewhat diagonal path in a horizontal plane with respect to the direction of. feed of the material.

A scroll member generally designated by the numeral 36 is carried by a rearwardly extending plate 37 provided with a rearwardly opening slot 38. This slot is adapted to receive pins 39 and 40 secured to the upstand ing wall 34 of the presser foot, and a bowed spring 41 mounted beneath the head of the pin 40 holds the supporting plate 37 firmly against this wall of the presser foot. At the same time the scroll member may be readily removed by a direct forward pull thereon so that it may be replaced by another which is pushed rearwardly into place between the spring 41 and the member 34. In this way scroll members of different dimensions may be readily attached to the device as is desired.

The scroll member 36 comprises a generally vertically disposed portion 42 secured to the plate 37, this portion of the member having a laterally bent forward end 43. The metal of this member is then folded upon itself so as to extend downwardly in a relatively curved path, as shown at 44, and then folded horizontally to underlie the portion 42 and provide a laterally extending wing 45 to underlie the material which is being stitched. The portion 44 of the scroll member is extended rearwardly, as shown at 46, to provide an upstanding guide member disposed substantially in a vertical plane and extending in substantially parallel relation to the adjacentedge of the presser foot 32 to allow space therebetween for the upturned edge of the material. The vertical dimension of the member 46 will govern the width of the upturned edge portion of the material and will, in part, control the width of the stitch over the edge of the material as the needle will descend sometimes upon one side and sometimes upon the other side of this guide member as well as upon both sides of the upturned edge of the material.

As indicated in the front view of the scroll member in Fig. 6, the material, as shown at 47, will be introduced into the scroll member from the left-hand side thereof, and its edge will extend upwardly between the members 42 and 44. As the cloth is engaged by the roughened portion 33 of the presser foot and with the feed mechanism of the sewing machine, it will be fed rearwardly with the upturned edge thereof lying between the guide member 46 and the adjacent substantially parallel edge of the presser foot 32.

Upon oscillation of the lever 13 and presser foot, the needle will descend in the opening 35 upon one side of the guide member 46 and then upon the opposite side of this guide member so that the thread will pass over the upturned edge of the material and effect an overcasting stitch.

This operation is shown particularly in Figs. 8 and 9. In Fig. 8 the needle is shown in dotted lines at 48 in the position it occupies when passing through the needle opening 35 of the presser foot or on the inner side of the guide member 46 (the upper side of member 46 as shown in Fig. 3). The needle pierces the material upon its downward stroke :in this position. There is :shown in dotted lines at 49 the position of the needle when it passes downwardly on the opposite or -ou'tside of the guide member 46, thus passing over the upturned edge 50 of the material, upon which movement it does not pierce the material.

In Fig. 9 of the drawings, I have shown a piece of material after it has been stitched showing the appearance of the stitching on both sides thereof. The stitching on what may be termed the inner side is shown at 51. In this instance the thread 52 carried by the sewing machine needle passes through the material and catches the bobbin thread upon the other side. Upon the reverse side of the material the needle thread 52 does not pass through the material but merely catches over the bobbin thread 53 and makes the stitch as shown.

It will be noted from Figs. 7 and 9 that the edge of the vertically turned portion 50 of the material extends upwardly to a position adjacent the junction of the portions 42 and 44- (Fig. 7) so that it is higher at its point of entry into the scroll and slopes downwardly within the scroll until it emerges substantially at the height of the upper edge of the guide member 46.

While 1 have shown and described a preferred embodi-, ment of my invention, it will be understood that it is not to be limited to all of the details shown, but is capable of modification and variation within the spirit of the invention and within the scope of the claims.

What I claim is:

1. An overcasting attachment for a sewing machine comprising a frame, a lever pivotally secured thereto for movement in a horizontal plane, a presser foot carried by said lever, a scroll member carried by the presser foot and disposed forwardly thereof, means on said scroll member to turn the edge of a piece of material passing therethrough into a substantially vertical plane, a guide member extending rearwardly from the scroll member, saidguide member having a surface in a substantially vertical plane extending along and in laterally spaced relation to an adjacent edge of the presser foot to support the upturned edge of material and provide a passage therefor between said surface and the adjacent edge of the presser foot, and means for oscillating said lever to move said guide member from one side of the path of the needle to the other.

'2. An overcasting attachment for a sewing machine comprising a frame, a lever pivotally secured thereto for movement in a horizontal plane, a presser foot carried by said lever, a scroll member carried by the presser foot and disposed forwardly thereof, means on said scroll member to turn the edge of a piece of material passing therethrough into a substantially vertical plane, and a vertically disposed guide member extending .rearwardly from the scroll member along and in spaced relation to the adjacent lateral edge of the presser foot to form with said edge a passage for the upwardly turned edge of the material and support the latter, and means for oscillating said lever to move said guide member from one side of the path of the sewing machine needle to the other.

3. An over-casting attachment for a sewing machine comprising a frame, a lever pivotally secured thereto for movement in a horizontal plane, a presser foot carried by said lever, a scroll member carried by the presser foot and disposed forwardly thereof, means on said scroll member to turn the edge of a piece of material passing therethrough into a substantially vertical plane, said scroll member having spaced substantially vertical portions'providing between them a passage for an upwardly turned edge of the material, and a vertically disposed guide member extending rearwardly from one of said portions to be disposed along, and in spaced relation to, and

laterally of the adjacent edge of the presser foot and sub-.

stantially parallel thereto to provide therebetween a passage for the upturned edge of the material, and means for oscillating'said lever about its pivot to carry said upturned edge from one side of the path of the needle to the other.

4. An .overcasting attachment for a sewing machine comprising a frame, a lever pivotally secured thereto for" movement in a horizontal plane, apresser foot carried by said lever, a scroll member detachably secured to the presser foot and disposed forwardly thereof, means on said scroll member to turn the edge of a piece of material passing therethrough into a substantially vertical plane, said scroll member having spaced substantially vertical portions providing between them a passage for an upwardly turned edge of the material, a vertically disposed guide member extending rearwardly from one of said portions to extend along, and in spaced relation laterally to, the adjacent lateral edge of the presser foot and substantially parallel thereto, means for moving said lever about its pivot, and said guide member being so disposed that the needle descends on alternate sides thereof upon movement of the lever.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 428,885 Brower am May 27, 1890 896,949 Stevens Aug. 25, 1908 1,067,419 Fefel July 15, 1913 2,125,652 Seaman Aug. 2, 1938 2,281,275 Enos Apr. 28, 1942 2,321,747 Hickey June 15, 1943 2,355,766 Westhotf Aug. 15, 1944 2,592,653 Burgess et a1 Apr. 15, 1952 

